


Fragile

by VH_Sheridan



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Luffy Being Luffy, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24935128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VH_Sheridan/pseuds/VH_Sheridan
Summary: The first time Nami stole Luffy’s hat was only days after setting sail from the Conomi Islands following the destruction of Arlong Park. She awoke in the dead of night sweat drenched and lost in a haze of fear. A voiceless scream fought to tear itself from her throat while she sat in the bed gasping for air. It was the first of many nights that she’d dream of him. Although physically free of the fishman, her mind still held her captive with night terrors, making her relive the worst moments of her childhood.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Nami
Comments: 13
Kudos: 113





	Fragile

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to One Piece or any of the characters depicted in this work of fiction. Thank you, Oda, for the many years of hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking swashbuckling adventures!

The first time Nami stole Luffy’s hat was only days after setting sail from the Conomi Islands following the destruction of Arlong Park. She awoke in the dead of night sweat drenched and lost in a haze of fear. A voiceless scream fought to tear itself from her throat while she sat in the bed gasping for air. It was the first of many nights that she’d dream of him. Although physically free of the fishman, her mind still held her captive with night terrors, making her relive the worst moments of her childhood. 

With the stealth of a cat, she quietly creeped to the men’s barracks and slid the hat from Luffy’s clenched fingers. She practically ran back to the captain’s cabin to escape from having a panic attack on the exposed deck of the ship, and once in the perceived privacy of her room she jammed the hat on her head, pulling it down so the brim covered her eyes. She slid to the floor. Drawing her knees up to her chest she wrapped her free arm around herself and gave in to the rising terror. Her hand never left the hat.

“Arlong’s gone. Arlong’s gone. Arlong’s gone.” She chanted quietly to herself, voice breaking. 

She pressed her feet firmly into the boards of the ship, grounding herself from the onslaught to her mind. She took several shaky deep breaths traced the criss cross pattern of the straw hat with her eyes. 

‘Luffy’s greatest treasure, huh?’ she thought. ‘Until that day I didn’t think treasure could be anything other than gold or a surplus of berries.’ 

Arlong called her a treasure- a precious gem of a find amongst a sea of useless and ordinary humans. He thought of her as an object and treated her as such. She was his bird in a cage. 

But Luffy…. Luffy placing his most treasured possession in her possession made her feel treasured. Made her feel safe. Safer than she’d felt in eight years. No words were needed in that moment. His subsequent destruction of the four walls that constructed her prison and all the maps she was forced to make for the fishmen and the proclamation that she would always be his friend, broke something inside her. Or maybe it mended it. 

After what felt like hours, Nami’s quick, shallow breaths slowed and became even, and the salty trails left by tears began to dry. But still Nami slept with the hat by her pillow, fingers brushing the brim. In the morning she returned the object to a frantic Luffy claiming that she found it blowing around the deck and berating him for not taking care of his possessions. 

It became a ritual. On nights plagued by her abuser, Nami would steal the hat from Luffy and return it to him in the morning. Luffy remained clueless. However, one night, Luffy decided tie the hat to himself, and in her desperation to avoid waking the others, Nami failed to notice her captain’s elongating arm stretching along with her journey back to her room. A half-awake Luffy, dreaming of meat, rolled out of his hammock to follow his arm out the barrack door and across the deck. When he saw Nami’s usually nimble fingers fumbling to untie the simple knot attaching his hat to his person he became angry.  
“What are you doing with my hat, Nami?!” He exclaimed, allowing his body to slingshot the remaining distance. “That’s mine!”  
“Shut up,” she hissed, and he heard the tremble in her voice and felt the shaking of her hands. “I don’t want it forever, but,” she looked up at him with the same expression she’d worn when asking him for help on her home island, “I need it.” A tear slowly trailed down one cheek. “I need it.”  
Without a word, he untied the string and handed the hat to her. She slammed the door of the cabin in his face and slid down the door to sit on the floor, knees to her chest, hat pulled low over her eyes. Luffy quietly sat down, back to the outer cabin wall. He could hear her chanting through the door, the muffled sobs and quick shallow breaths. They slowly subsided and just when he thought she’d fallen asleep the door opened. Eyes downcast, Nami placed the hat on his head and turned to retreat once more in the cabin.  
Luffy reached out and grabbed her wrist halting her. He didn’t look at her, gave her that much privacy. “You could have just asked,” he said quietly.  
Nami huffed. “I don’t like to seem weak,” she retorted putting as much of her usual tartness as she could in her voice. She tugged her hand free and closed the door.  
“But you’re not,” Luffy replied quietly with a frown. 

After that night, Luffy didn’t tie the hat to his arm again. He began observing her more closely, noticing the tenseness in her shoulders or the way she laughed too loudly and became quiet too quickly afterwards. 

“Take care of my hat, Nami.” 

“Hold onto this a moment, Nami.” 

“Hey, Nami! Catch!” 

It become a ritual. She would be on edge, and he would lend her his hat for an hour or two to engage in something dangerous and equally ridiculous with Zoro or Sanji. It became so regular an occurrence that even when new members were added to the crew it was just accepted that Luffy frequently entrusted his cherished straw hat to Nami. 

Gradually her night terrors and panic attacks decreased, but Luffy continued to place his hat in her hands, on her head. Under the light of a full moon, Nami sat alone in the crow’s nest listening to the sound of waves slapping the sides of the Going Merry and keeping an eye on the horizon. She sighed contentedly. 

But the peaceful quiet was broken by her chaotic captain flopping into the crow’s nest with a loud thump, one hand juggling an absurd amount of grilled meat still on the bone. She shrieked in surprise and scuttled back from him. He blinked at her. 

“What are you doing up here, Nami?” he asked around a mouthful of food. 

“It’s my watch,” she snarled. “You’re supposed to be sleeping not raiding the galley!” 

He just blinked at her. “But I was hungry.” 

Nami sighed and ran a hand over her face exasperatedly. “You’re always hungry, you bottomless pit of a rubber man. Just eat and go back to bed.” She leaned back against the mast and stretched her legs out. 

“Okay,” he responded with a grin and settled beside her. “Hold onto this for me until I’m done, okay?” 

Nami’s head was pushed forward from the force of him sharing his hat. 

“Are you trying to break my neck?!” she growled at him fumbling the keep the hat on her head as she whirled around to glare at him once more. 

Luffy laughed, spraying food out of his mouth, and Nami shook her head in disgust. 

They sat in companionable silence for a time as the moon began its descent to the horizon. Nami reached up to idly rub the brim of the hat between her thumb and forefingers. Luffy wiped his greasy hands on his jeans, and leaned back against the mast, locking his fingers together behind his head. 

“Hey, Luffy,” Nami said quietly. 

“Hn?”

“You don’t have to keep doing this.” 

“Doing what? Keep watch with you?” He asked blankly turning his head slightly to stare at her with wide, too innocent eyes.

“This,” she mumbled gesturing to the straw hat. “I’m not… I don’t need it anymore.” 

“I know.” Luffy’s shoulders rose and fell in a dismissive gesture. It’s been weeks since you stole it, which is a real problem because I was getting used to midnight snacking more often.,” he replied turning back to face the waves. 

“What?” Nami asked flatly. 

“Every time you stole it, I’d wake up and be hungry and I can’t go back to sleep if I’m hungry so I just went to the galley for a snack. Since you haven’t stolen it in weeks, I haven’t woken up hungry in the middle of the night. It’s been really disappointing.” He said with a frown.

“That’s why our rations decreased so rapidly?” She seethed before stopping short. Her eyes widened with realization. “Wait, you’re saying it’s my fault you ate so much. You’re blaming me for your appetite?” 

He laughed. “Pretty much!” 

Nami rapped him on the head with her knuckles sending him sprawling to the floor of the crow’s nest and growled through clenched teeth, “You are unbelievable.” 

He sat up slowly, his grin, although diminished slightly, still plastered to his face. He rubbed his head where an impressive knot was forming. “I guess.” He crossed his legs and held onto his ankles with both hands, fully extending his arms. Luffy’s face fell as he watched Nami shift positions, drawing her knees up to her chest and turning her face away from him. 

“You didn’t wake up for food before” she said softly. 

Luffy shrugged. “That’s because I thought the wind kept taking my hat. I can’t fight the wind,” he said laughter in his voice. He sobered when Nami wrapped her arms around her knees. “Does it bother you that much that I wake up hungry?” He asked, cocking his head to the side and frowning. 

Nami slowly turned around to study him through narrowed eyes. Even she couldn’t tell if her twitching eyebrows were a result of her incredulity of or frustration towards his idiocy. Shaking her head she let out a huff of laughter.

“No, that’s not what’s bothering me,” she said, punching him gently in the arm. 

“Then what?” He asked, rubbery neck extending to further tilt his head to the side. 

She sighed in exasperated amusement at her captain. “I don’t,” she began, looking away from him out over ocean at the purple-blue night sky fading to the lighter pinks and oranges of the coming dawn.. “I don’t like you witnessing me when I’m like that. It makes me feel fragile. Weak. And I don’t you or the others to think that of me.” 

“You’re kinda dumb.” Luffy said pressing his lips into a line and shrugging.

“Come again?” Nami snarled, whipping around to face him fist raised. 

He stared at her with an unnervingly clear gaze. “You’re kinda dumb.” He repeated. She opened her mouth to respond, but Luffy continued. “You’re not weak. You singlehandedly worked to save your village for eight years, Nami. A weak person would have run away.” 

Nami chewed on her bottom lip.. “Oh.” 

Luffy leaned forward bringing their faces close, his brows knitted with sincerity. “You’re the best navigator in the East Blue, and I only pick the best for my crew.” 

Nami smiled. “I’m glad you recognize talent when you see it. Better treat me right, captain, or I’ll jump ship.” 

Luffy pushed the brim of the hat up with one finger. “No you won’t,” he said with a grin so wide his eyes shut. “This is where you belong.” He kissed her forehead, snatched back the hat, and jumped over the railing of the crow’s nest just as dawn broke over the horizon. 

Nami wailed in embarrassment. 

Luffy laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction, and it was inspired by listening to the acoustic version of Fragile by Poets of the Fall. Hence the title.
> 
> I know Nami may seem a little ooc in this, but as a trauma survivor myself, I wanted to see her work through 8 years of being held hostage even if only on a small scale. One activity my therapist had me do was recreate the first moment I felt truly safe after leaving my abuser. Rewatching the series on Netflix, when Luffy plops that hat on her head I knew that would be Nami’s moment of safety. Nami rarely breaks down and has a fantastically strong personality, but I enjoy her rare moments of tenderness and fragility. 
> 
> So be kind to me! I welcome constructive criticism and tips to improve my writing, but rude ass comments will be deleted after I cry for an hour.


End file.
